little baby's check-up update

saturday’s check-up went wonderfully well!

we can see the arms and legs now –looks more like a baby than just a lump. we even saw baby’s arms move from head to knee and doctor re-played it for our viewing pleasure :). ahh… the wonders of today’s technology!

heartbeat sounds faster and stronger. thank God.

baby is now 3.8cm long.

love you little one!

ethan's growing vocabulary ;p

I love you = fufu
Amen = mamet
Mummy = ma-mei
Baby = bei-beii
Daddy = dei-deii
Please = sik
Thank you = ta-tuu
Kiss = muah
1,2,3 = tu, tu, ti
Good night = gaunait
Good morning = gaumauning
Pacifier = fei-fei, fesi, fasi
Biscuit = beeskees
Water = boter
Barney = marney
Sleep = oh-oii
Milk = shushu
Cheers = shearsss
Cheese = cheese

some general updates on motherhood

my cutie pie is almost 22months old --just 2 months short of turning 2 years old!

he can do lots of things now. too many to account for here. some major things that i want to document though:

- hes got more hair now. covers his scalp. we contemplated on shaving it off but then it took so long for it to get here. hes got nice curls and his hair reaches the top of his shoulder blades now, which is quite long but is only obvious during bath times. i hope he inherits his father's hairy-ness which, come to think of it, he has. if you look close enough, you can see that hes got a hairy back, sideburns, hairy knuckles. my son i mean.

- he can walk, run, climb (up the grill, into his high chair, onto the table, into a big flower pot), somersault (horror). so he cant be left alone anymore.

- he knows how to operate a handphone, dvd player, laptop (my mum is very impressed with this).

- his eating habits have improved some but hes still eating blended food.

- he can drink from a straw (a recent development so im quite happy). i call it "the graduation".

- he can take off his pants. we're gonna have to start potty-training him soon.

- he can say mummy & daddy now (instead of mama & dada earlier) as well as other new words. not so with sentences but i'm not too worried.

- hes got a bad temper. likes to bang his head on the floor when hes angry. doctors say it'll reduce when he learns to speak and that it's just an attention seeking gimmick. well, it definitely gets our attention.

- we've started punishing him via time-outs in a corner. when he first got a time-out, he thought it was a game. & kept looking at us and laughing. not so much now haha. its amazing to observe how a child's mind catches up: he understands that it's a punishment & will stay in his corner, facing the wall, crying until the time is up (usually 5 minutes).

this year marks my 2nd year as a mom. i love being one. sure i complain to the husband about not having time to myself etc. but when there is an opportunity, i usually back out. nothing to worry about really as the husband can do everything provided that some loose instructions are given.

for mother's day this year, i got some dresses for myself & the husband cooked and got me some tiramisu. & from the son, well i almost had a heart attack due to his "terrible twos" antics. but despite all that, i love that my son gives me or his dada a saliva-soaked kiss on the lips or nose depending on where he lands but he only offers his face to be kissed when it's anyone else. i love that he holds our hands when we're out walking. that hes such a bubbly little character & sleeptalks pleasantly, sometimes featuring a chuckle. that he says susu as shu-shu. that he dances funny. that he can pretend laugh when the adults are laughing just to be in the conversation. that he loves having visitors and cries when they leave. that he can serve beers in a can when his uncles come over. that he holds our faces close to his when he sleeps.

i could go on & on, but i wont...

pictures will be uploaded hopefully soon.

jealousy

my son seems more attached to his father than he is to me. despite me being the one who is with him more. i am a tad jealous. just a tad. sometimes i wonder, what is it that i'm doing that makes him take me for granted? because thats what i think it is. because i'm always there for him that mine is not a novel face, being with me is not a novel experience to him. he has gotten used to my being available.

its not neccessarily a bad thing (i suppose), as it probably means that baby is more confident that i'm there no matter what (excluding the hours that i'm at work lah ya). it isnt that the husband is never around. he is available subject to his working hours, just as i am. the only difference is, i work the normal malaysian 9-530pm while he works from 12noon-9pm. & by the time he reaches home, etha*n is almost asleep. so whenever he does see his father, wow... the smile on the face. the love on the face. the laughter of joy. & the husband revels in it :-)... it is lovely to see.

but i am human. so i get a bit jealous every now & then.

however, my consolation is this: etha*n looks for me when its bedtime. i believe he has come to understand the concept of time & schedule & knows when its time to turn in for the night. & when im not there on hand at the appointed hour, i can hear him whining while the father tries to pacify him. & once im within sight, wow... the smile on the face. the love on the face. & the laughter... yes, he laughs as if saying "phew... there you are!!"

:D

happy mother's day to me :-D

i love my husband to bits

~love you sweetheart. thank you for my gift.~

yet another milestone

today i join the throngs of people who send their kids to someone else to care for.

my parents abandoned us on saturday. & for most of the weekend, it was just us 3 as a family.

i'm proud to announce that i even managed to sweep, mop & do the laundry. clap clap clap for me. the husband has also attempted to feed etha*n. unfortunately for him, the baby's started becoming a bit unpredictable with his feed times. unfortunately for me, the husband fell sick yesterday so he hasnt been able to help me with the baby. never mind. hes made up for it by doing the housework.

today is etha*n's first day with my MIL's maid. yes, despite all my complaints, we have decided to send him to her after all. better a known devil than an unknown one (ok i gotta stop being bitchy). also, we found out that the babysitters in kepong run up to rm650 - rm750. madness hor? ALSO, because the MIL's maid is a bit sot-sot, we've decided to apply for the new maid at the end of the month. if the new maid comes early, then she will stay with us & in the mornings i'll send her & the baby to my SIL's. & later when the MIL's maid goes bye-bye in june 2009, the new maid will move in with the MIL. the financial arrangements are that we split the cost of getting the new maid as well as her monthly pay 50-50. my dad asked me why dont i just get my own maid. well, one i live in an apartment & i've got no place for the maid to "live" in (not just sleep in). second, i live in an apartment & i need some privacy.

ok so back to my son's childcare arrangements: hes with the maid now. i told him to make sure he smiles at her a lot so that her hati pun sejuk towards him. & boy has he taken my instructions to heart. he has smiled & chuckled non-stop since saturday night when we went there to visit & get him used to the maid. so much so that one of the uncles told him to "save it for tomorrow". hehehe. in the mornings i drive him to my MIL's with him sitting in the car seat next to me. which apparently is not the right place for him but at the moment i need him to be able to see me or else he'll be cranky. so, i'll be driving & he'll be smiling at me. so farnee.

i'm heading home now to get my son. i cant wait to see him.

3mths old today

etha*n is 3 months old today :-). happy birthday my ball of a baby boy. i love love love you.

hes going for a jab today. so i hope he'll take it well like he did the last one. but i know he might get a fever in the early hours of the morning. poor baby.

he can laugh & chitchat & turn over onto his tummy & scream & tsktsk & pull himself up to a sitting position.

his grandpa says that he is demanding & determined & has a temper. i hope he wont be like me.

my mom says that he is physically present but mentally absent because sometimes hes staring straight at you but when you say something hes jolted out of his reverie.

he smiles a lot & chortles & plays along when he is tickled.

at 2 months & 3 weeks old, he weighed in at 6.71kg. so maybe hes 7kgs today?

he recognizes his daddy & i love seeing them together. he loves his music & sings along all the time. but mostly when hes sleepy & being rocked to sleep.

when he wants attention, he gives a little cough here & there. till you pay attention. so cute lah.

the best is waking up & seeing him sleeping contentedly next to me. & i love saying "dont cry, mummy's right here."

i took him to church yesterday & he was such a good boy. i guess the airconditioning helped some. lucky me.

i cant wait till its december & he goes off on his first plane ride. & celebrates his first christmas. & meets his sabahan side. i want them to say: hello baby etha*n, you're half sabahan too.

my son's milestones

i cant believe how time has flown.

• started drooling
• starts wearing bibs for drool-control
• stopped using mittens because he sucks on them so much then smears drool all over his face giving him a pimply look :-p
• sick for the first time; he has the flu & is coughing. altho its quite sad to see him like this, his coughs are really cute.

who knew i could love someone this much? even his awful-est, nastiest smells are addictive to me. really.

the best is the sour-y smell of his teeny tiny fingers, enclosed in drool-soaked mittens & fermented day & night. masam... but hes my son & i love everything about him.

ok maybe his poop smell is an acquired thing. but i'm getting there. :-D

wanna to see 26-week old blub?

well, maybe this isnt blub (that isnt my body), but it gives you an idea. i'm looking at this & thinking: iyerrrr... lookit all that limb in my tummy!!

father of my prince or princess

yesterday, i got a text from the husband:

he: love you both. (took me a while to get it actually hehe)
me: we love you too daddy-o.

today i asked the husband:

me: what would you like to be called? papa or daddy?
he: king.
me: no seriously lah.
he: king.
me: oii.
he: ya lah. king lah.

kahkahkah... perasan nak mampuih.

ptttoooiiiii!!